Description

SO 8206-8306 RANDWICK HUMPHRIES END

14/209 More Hall Convent
(previously listed as More Hall)

28.6.60 II*

Large detached house, now convent with attached chapel. Part
dated 1582, considerably enlarged c1620. Chapel converted from
dovecote 1912-16, being linked to house; c1920 restoration.
Random rubble limestone; ashlar and artificial stone rebuilt
chimneys; stone slate roof. Two-storey with attics and cellars;
3-storey at north end. Stone finials to all moulded gables, most
windows retaining lead-latticed casements. West side: 2 cross-
gabled wings project forward forming central courtyard. Wing with
parapet gables and finials to right is end of original rectangular
house, doorway - now entered from arcade below central range gable
of addition - has lintel dated 1582, hoodmould over. Three-light
recessed cavetto mullioned casement to upper floor reduced to 2
lights upon addition of central range; quatrefoil gable vent
above. Two single-light casements to front gable. Full gable to
central range with large upper floor mullioned and transomed
casement, continuous drip course above; smaller mullioned and
transomed attic casement with hoodmould. Arcade below has central
pointed arched opening with hoodmould flanked by 2 openings with
cambered stone lintels; continuous drip moulding above stepping
over outer openings and incorporating central inscription panel
inscribed 'BENEDICTVS QVI VENIT IN NOMINE DOMINI'. Cross gabled
wing projects forward to left with continuous drip courses to upper
floor fenestration, single windows arranged on centre-line of
gables, all 2- and 3-light recessed chamfered casements. North
end: 2 gables, left with large projecting chimney with cluster of
diagonal shafts having moulded caps; C20 single-storey addition
below with mullioned fenestration. Single-window fenestration to
right gable, drip courses continued round from west side. Some
additional single-light casements to left above doorway with
chamfered opening. East side: 3 full parapet gables, left is
lower, being east end of original house with mullioned and
transomed ground and upper floor casements; 2-light to attic with
quatrefoil vent above, all recessed cavetto moulded with hoods.
Higher gables to right and 3 projecting stone rainwater chutes
above mixed mullioned or mullioned and transomed fenestration,
taller central windows illuminating upper floor hall. Continuous
drip courses below both gables, set at different levels. Single
diagonal chimney shaft with moulded cap to central gable. South
side: 2 full parapet gables to original house, left with single-
window fenestration, projecting chimney with rebuilt shaft to right
gable. Attached C20 wing is not of special interest. Chapel
attached to left corner by short link with Tudor arched doorway has
tall combined porch and belfry, moulded. Tudor arched doorway with
3-light above and coped corners at base of octagonal belfry with
coped pyramidal top.
Interior: large panelled hall on upper floor of c1620 addition has
fireplace with short pilaster strips to upper parts of
chimneypiece, lower order having Ionic capitals. Other parts of
range have extensive square-framed timber partitions with Tudor
arched door lintels. Stepped beam chamfer stops. Roofs of c1620
addition of extended collar construction. Built for the Fowler
family of clothiers, More Hall has been a convent since the 1930s,
the chapel having been added for a previous owner, Rev. C.H.
Sharpe, who founded the Evangelist Brothers of the Common Life.
(N. M. Herbert, 'Stonehouse' in V.C.H. Glos x, 1972, pp. 267-289;
and D. Verey Gloucestershire: The Cotswolds, 1979)

Listing NGR: SO8300706090

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17538326

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey